Patriot Pride: My Life in the New England Dynasty

By Troy Brown and Mike Reiss

Spotlighting a New England sports icon, this autobiography chronicles the extraordinary life and career of Troy Brown, the talented athlete who played 15 seasons with the New England Patriots. Brown demonstrates how his grit, hustle, and hard work endeared him to a generation of football fans. Brown's past is explored, relating how he made it through college and into the pros despite being given up on several times. His years with the Patriots are documented in detail, covering what it was like to play for Coach Belichick, why Tom Brady has been so successful, and the secrets behind his three Super Bowl wins. Traveling from his younger years in South Carolina through his college career in West Virginia and to the pinnacle of the NFL, this inspirational, rags-to-riches sports memoir will entertain, inform, and inspire football fans of all stripes, especially the hundreds of thousands of fans who support the Patriots—one of the most successful franchises in the league. This new paperback edition features an additional afterword on the Patriots' unforgettable 2016 championship season and Super Bowl LI victory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Triumph Books
• Release date: Nov 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781641250283

Book preview

To my mother, Richadean, for teaching me to become a man.

To my children, Sir’mon, SaanJay, and Skylar, for making me become an even better man and continuing to be my driving inspiration.

Contents

Foreword by Tom Brady

Introduction

1. Modest Beginnings in Blackville, South Carolina

2. From Junior College to Marshall, Improbably So

3. The NFL Dream Almost Dies

4. A Not-So-Super Experience

5. Stop Picking on Our First-Round Draft Choice!

6. A Career Breakthrough in Year 8

7. An Unforgettable 2001 Season

8. Life at the Top Isn’t Easy

9. Bingo! I’ve Got Bingo!

10. Defense? You Want Me to Play Defense?

11. Nearly a Saint

12. Elation and Despair in the ’06 Playoffs

13. A Behind-the-Scenes View of a Near-Perfect Season

14. It’s Hard to Walk Away From the Game You Love

15. In His Own Words: Life After Football

16. Patriots Hall of Famer

Afterword by Troy Brown

Acknowledgments

Photo Gallery

Foreword by Tom Brady

As a member of the New England Patriots for the last 16 years, it has been a privilege to be teammates with some of the NFL’s best players who have become friends for life. Troy Brown is certainly in that category.

When I joined the Patriots in 2000 as a sixth-round draft choice out of Michigan, Troy had already been with the franchise for seven years. It was probably seven years longer than many thought he would stick around based on his draft status, but it was easy for me to see why he had such staying power. He was one of the team’s hardest workers, humble, a great competitor, and he always put the team first. He was a great example for a rookie like me to follow.

Add in Troy’s natural skills as a wide receiver—how he always seemed to have a knack for being in the right place at the right time, using his quickness, intelligence and uncanny vision to get open—and it highlights how he was a critical part of the foundation of our Super Bowl championship teams in 2001, 2003, and 2004. In my first year as a starting quarterback in 2001, I would sometimes think to myself, When in doubt, get it to Troy.

Defenses always had to be conscious of where Troy was on the field. As a quarterback, the things I most appreciated were his dependability and consistency. He ran great routes, had great hands, and a great general awareness of what was happening around him. He added a steadying presence to our wide receiver corps.

Looking back, when I think about some of the memorable plays Troy delivered, it is difficult to pick one that stands out above the rest. There are so many.

His 23-yard catch on the final drive against the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI was the type of clutch play he was known for, as he got out of bounds to stop the clock and set up the game-winning field goal. He was always so smart.

Some said Troy couldn’t threaten a defense down the field, but his 82-yard touchdown catch in overtime against the Miami Dolphins in 2003 showed that wasn’t the case. It was a slant and he left everyone on defense in the dust at a time when players were physically and mentally exhausted. Troy was always so mentally tough, and that’s what it took because at the time we had a 0–13 record in South Florida in games played in September and October.

It was always great having Troy in the offensive huddle, and the defense found that to be the case as well. Watching him switch to cornerback in 2004, and total three interceptions that year, was a perfect example of how he always put the team first. Those defensive skills came in handy in the 2006 playoffs when he kept our season alive by stripping San Diego Chargers safety Marlon McCree after an interception.

And, of course, Troy’s contributions on special teams were exemplary.

Sometimes you hear people say he did it all for his team and it’s a bit of an overstatement. But with Troy, he truly did it all—offense, defense, and special teams.

I remember being asked about Troy in the 2004 season when his selfless switch to defense was a big storyline around our team, and this is what I said: He has respect from everybody. He is very coachable and has a great attitude. He is what this team is all about—tough, smart, and he works his butt off.

Like many others, I view Troy as one of the greatest players in the history of the franchise, which is evidenced by his 2012 induction into the team’s Hall of Fame. He was a great playmaker and leader on the field and a top-notch teammate off the field. He had a way of bringing people together, even though he wasn’t always the type to deliver a motivational-type speech.

Troy has had great success in his post-playing career, which is no surprise, and he has remained one of my close friends through the years. I am honored that he asked me to participate in this book that chronicles his career from pee-wee football to the NFL, and sends a message to youngsters that even a longshot underdog can achieve greatness if they stay true to themselves, work hard, and put the team first.

We had a lot of great memories together, and I’m excited that you’ll now have a chance to go behind the scenes with Troy to relive that special time in our lives, and even beyond that to learn more about Troy’s remarkable journey.

—Tom Brady

June 2015

Introduction

He caught the ball on his back! Wait, did he just catch the ball on his back?

Yes, he did.

That was one of my first memories of Troy Brown with the New England Patriots. It pretty much summed up Troy as a football player: Don’t underestimate his ability to come through with the most improbable play when his team needed it the most.

On the final day of the 1996 NFL season, I was sitting in the stands at Giants Stadium, one of the 65,387 in attendance to see if the Patriots could secure a victory and earn a coveted first-round playoff bye. As a fan, it was depressing to see them fall behind 22–0 at halftime. They needed a spark and of course it was Troy who would deliver it.

The Patriots came roaring back in the second half to record a 23–22 win, the margin for error razor thin as they faced a third-and-13 situation on their game-winning drive. That’s when Troy Brown made one of the unforgettable plays in that era of Patriots football, a diving-on-his-back-and-stretching-out-his-body reception for 13 yards.

They needed 13. Troy got the 13.

As I transitioned from fan to young professional/football reporter the following year, it was my pleasure to follow the rest of Troy’s career from the perspective of Patriots reporter. I came to know him as a quiet leader and a shining example of how when the odds are stacked against you, it doesn’t mean you can’t win.

Troy Brown won. He won big. He shined on the grandest stages of professional football and did whatever the team needed, from catching the ball as a receiver, to returning punts, and ultimately switching to the cornerback position in the 2004 Super Bowl season when the team had a run of unfortunate injuries.

What you’re about to read is his story, from humble beginnings in Blackville, South Carolina, to three-time Super Bowl champion and Patriots Hall of Fame player (1993–2007). It’s an underdog story because eighth-round draft choices from Marshall University aren’t supposed to make it in the NFL. Perhaps you’ve noticed, but they don’t even have an eighth round in the NFL Draft anymore.

When Troy approached me about telling his story, his hope was that a young student might read it and be inspired. I hopped on board quickly, because as a father of two young children, this is the type of story I want them to read.

You’re not supposed to be able to catch a football flat on your back when the game is on the line. You’re also not supposed to go from wide receiver to cornerback and intercept three passes that season.

Then again, as Troy proved over and over again, anything is possible.

—Mike Reiss

April 2015

1. Modest Beginnings in Blackville, South Carolina

Those were the times when he would think back to Blackville and say to himself, Every little crumb, every little thing, just appreciate it.

This is where the journey began: Blackville, South Carolina.

To call it a modest beginning would be an understatement. In a town of about 2,000 residents, Troy’s home was an itsy-bitsy ranch with a few walls that divided the space into multiple rooms to provide some form of privacy. But considering how many people were packed into the home, there was really no privacy at all. No closets, either. Everyone’s clothes and belongings were stored in footlockers at the foot of the bed and those footlockers made for nice stools to sit on, too.

In football, they’d call this the bunch formation. Everyone packed in tight.

The leader of the house was Troy’s grandmother, who in many ways was the best coach he ever had. Troy would later play for two of the all-time great football coaches in Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick, but there was no one like Grandma Wilhamenia. She had nine children, the second oldest of whom was Troy’s mother. All of them, and their kids, lived together in the small home.

So Grandma Wilhamenia not only raised her own kids, she basically raised her grandchildren too. She was Troy’s first true role model.

Life wasn’t easy for the family in Blackville, South Carolina, at the time. To make sure they had this modest roof over their head, they worked in the fields—the vast acreage around the house that had animals such as chickens running around the backyard—in exchange for shelter. Part of the work included picking cotton. No, there weren’t video games to be played.

There were basically four rooms in the house—one for the girls, one for the boys, with a wooden swinging door separating them. Things were more cramped in the boys’ room, with six of them there at one point before some left for the military. The three girls had a bit more space, but not much more.

Grandma Wilhamenia’s room was on the other side, which also served as the family room. A small kitchen and washroom was behind that.

The bathroom was in the backyard—an outhouse 20 to 30 yards from the home. One time, during a storm, it blew away. That turned out to be a good thing because the new outhouse had two bowls, depending on what you had to do. Talk about luxury.

Friends described Troy’s home as Little House on the Prairie. Looking out the front door, one could see a distribution area across the field where 18-wheeler trucks would line up to be stocked with produce. It was rural. Real rural.

In the fields, Troy would chop wood and pick peanuts and corn. When you’re four years old, there is a certain acceptance to this being the way life is. It just seemed normal.

He later learned otherwise. This is why Troy is so appreciative of the life that football has provided him; it starts in Blackville. That’s where he learned that everything you get in life is earned. It’s where he learned sacrifice. It’s where he learned that words can sometimes ring hollow; it’s the actions that count: If you don’t work in the fields, you don’t have a place to live.

Troy and his mother moved out when he was around five years old, to a subsidized housing development. While he had more friends in the projects, there was something about the farm that he missed. Grandma Wilhamenia was a big part of that. So was all the acreage on the farm; there might not have been a lot of toys to play with there, but with a little imagination, the possibilities were endless.

Some 15 to 20 years later, Troy would find himself in a football locker room and hear complaints from some of his teammates. Maybe practice went too long. Someone wanted a car, a tattoo, or a piece of jewelry. The body ached and maybe the paycheck wasn’t big enough.

Those were the times when he would think back to Blackville and say to himself, Every little crumb, every little thing, just appreciate it.

By the time he was 10, Grandma Wilhamenia moved out of the house on the farm, all of her kids now elsewhere. She couldn’t do the work on the farm by herself.

That saddened the grandson. Time moves on. But the lessons learned on that farm would never fade.

* * *

Football was a big part of life in Blackville. High school football on Friday night, as it is in many places around the country with that Friday Night Lights mentality, was the local entertainment.

Troy was hooked on the game early, from the time he first began attending games with his aunt, who was in high school at the time. The local high school team was a perennial state title contender in the late ’70s and into the early ’80s, which further stoked his passions. Like many, he looked out on the field and said to himself, Someday that will be me.

But that was still a few years away, so he played the more informal type football—in the projects with his friends. They’d play on the cornfields and every once in a while, kids from the projects from the other side of town would come by for an informal game, a grass-roots rivalry that Troy soaked up as if it were the Super Bowl. He was usually the youngest of the bunch. The smallest, too. But he had good hands and a knack for coming up with the tough catch, a scouting report that would follow him into the NFL.

A reminder that most of the people involved in the game were from modest backgrounds was reflected in the football itself. It was often tattered, the laces sometimes ripped. Occasionally, there would be a good ball, maybe even a tee to kick the ball, one that someone received as a present for Christmas or as a birthday gift. But that usually didn’t last long.

If it wasn’t football, it was baseball. That was another sport that didn’t take much to get a game together among those in the country projects—some sticks, maybe some boards, and any old ball that might be around.

For kids growing up in the area, there weren’t many options for organized sports—no little league soccer or pee-wee basketball. By the time Troy was old enough to try out for his first competitive basketball team, in the seventh grade, he was cut from the middle-school squad. It would be the first hurdle for him to clear in a long athletic career of overcoming the odds.

He ended up playing competitive baseball for a few years, but the excitement he got from that paled in comparison to the way he felt when on the football field, or when he would watch a game, like he did that first time in Grandma Wilhamenia’s bedroom/family room, when he saw the Dallas Cowboys and instantly fell in love with them.

So it was football. And more football. He had wanted to play organized football in the first grade, but was held back by family members concerned by his diminutive stature. So he’d follow his brother Dwayne to practice, a seven-year-old either walking the few miles or taking his bicycle and navigating little ditches in the road and getting chased by stray dogs at times.

There was naturally some fear in making those jaunts to practice, wondering if the boards that were set up to cover some ditches in the road would hold up. But he figured that if his older brother was going that way, he would do the same. If that meant being part of the action, he’d take the risk and attempt to conquer the fear.

So when the undersized first-grader arrived for his brother’s first practice, he did what anyone would expect a seven-year-old to do—he negotiated. Coach, put me in! I want to play! I want one of those uniforms!

The coach said no. The boy cried.

The coach, perhaps feeling a bit beaten down, called the boy’s mother to see if there was any wiggle room. But Troy’s mom held her ground, like a nose tackle unwilling to be budged off the spot at the middle of the line of scrimmage.

The boy cried some more, until they found a solution that would work. Troy Brown would be the water boy.

It was perfect, really. An NFL player who would later be remembered as one of the most selfless teammates in New England Patriots history, not to mention one of its most clutch performers, just wanted to be part of the team.

It was that way in first grade. Just as it was that way when he was 37 in his final season in the NFL, having reached the mountaintop and chasing one more championship ring.

When Troy finally got his chance to play organized football the next season, there was a noticeable problem—the equipment didn’t fit. Not even close.

His helmet looked like it could have fit two of his heads. His pants were falling down his waist, but that didn’t really look so bad because his No. 22 jersey covered everything up as it extended down toward his knees.

We’d tape his knee pads up, tape his thigh pads up around his waist, and the funny thing about his helmet is that when he would run, it would turn sideways on his head, recalled Al Sept, who coached the pee-wee team.

The first position Troy played was defensive back, which would help 25 years later when Bill Belichick put him there again.

Sept recalls that day in 1979 as if it were yesterday.

I put Troy into the game and pointed to the wide receiver on the other team and said ‘See that player? Everywhere he goes, I want you in his back pocket.’ Troy said, ‘Yes, sir.’ So the teams get into their huddles and I’m making sure we have the correct number of players on our side, but we’re short one player. That’s because Troy was in the other team’s huddle, in the back pocket of that wide receiver. He was doing exactly what I told him.

That required Sept to call a timeout and explain to Troy the rules of the game. These were the modest beginnings of Troy Brown, the future New England Patriots Hall of Famer.

Coach Sept also put him on the kickoff team, and in many ways, that was the highlight of his little league football career. Looking back, the